Panama

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Another Central American eco-powerhouse, its rainforests, beaches, canal, and castaway islets are complemented by Panama City, the most dynamic urb in Central America, offering a UNESCO World Heritage colonial quarter, casinos, nightlife, and more.

I just conducted a search on Tripatini for "retirement" (my youngest grandchild taught me how ! ) and I found this discussion. I have not read the International Living review, but Forrest's comments are perfectly in keeping with an observation I have made. Often, journalists who are too young to retire publish advice based upon criteria that is a little bit off the mark. Maybe this is because they are thirty years old and unable to put themselves in our shoes.

I just reviewed the article on internationalliving.com. They have Thailand ranked #25.
So, I reviewed how they rated stuff. In my opinion. they weigh things wrong.. They give a lot of weight to "special benefits" for retirees. One of the reasons Panama scored so high, was what they call a "really great" pensionado program. That my friends is over rated. In four years there asa pensionado, the only thing I ever used my discount for was airfares within the country (it does not apply to intl flites) and hotels. The hotel discounts were somehow not so attractive, I got better rates just booking through hotels.com!
The catagory of purchasing a home...hmmm...in Thailand a foreigner CANNOT own property. You can own a condo, but not land. In Panama, yes you can buy and build, but be careful Real estate scams are numerous, especially on Island properties!
In short, I do not think internationalliving does much international living!

No, I would not retire in Panama. I lived there for four years, and if you want reasons why I would never retire there I can list them for you. But I will start with this important one.
Unless you are lucky, retirement comes with age. The need for good healthcare also comes with age. Outside of Panama city, healthcare is a non-starter. And Panama City is noisy, expensive, and there is a lot of crime.
I am going to cjeck out this internationalliving.com site and see what their criteria is
. I am searching for the best retirement spot myself. I just spent two months in Thailand, and in all the criteria I can name, it is much better than Panama. I notice Chilke is on the list. It would be on mine as well. I lived there for five years.

Like sports statistics geeks, InternationalLiving.com runs the numbers on eight different factors to come up with an annual ranking of the best countries for retirees. This year, Panama came in second, with Ecuador just barely squeaking in for #1. (The U.S.? #15.)

Casa Del Soul in San Juan Del Sur,Nicaragua welcomes "Panama" and wants everybody to know they have a great place to stay when coming to San Juan Del Sur,Nicaragua www.casadelsoul.info RATED #1 in "Specialty Lodging" by www.tripadvisor.com